George Couch Aiken Community Hospital, South Carolina. August 5, 1983. George Couch was a maintenance worker at the Savannah River Plant for over 22 years. Shortly before retirement, he contracted polycythemia vera, a rare form of blood cancer associated with radiation exposure. He was fired without compensation. « There is no way of telling how many people have already died from polycythemia vera. The only way to know would be to check your people while they’re living, except they say it’s very expensive. But what is the price of death? How much is a person’s life worth? »